Wolverines pluck the Cardinals 30-14 as Sanderson returns to play

Willits senior running back Wyatt Sanderson is back in the Wolverine lineup, and it couldn't have come at a better time.

Sanderson has been sidelined with a knee injury since early September; in his absence, his teammates have stepped up and made adjustments to fill the void their leading rusher left.

"It was a drag to be out, but I knew I was going to be able to return and make up for the games I missed, so I just stayed focused," said Sanderson.

Like they have done so many times this season, the Wolverines stepped up throughout the lineup, and it resulted in a 30-14 league win over the Clearlake Cardinals last Friday night at Maize Field.

Sanderson, in his first game since September 7 against Ukiah, was given a chance to return the favor to his team in last week's game.

With Willits quarterback Kailer Collicott out of the lineup following last week's concussion, Sanderson stood in to take his place.

"I have never really played quarterback, but we needed one so I had to step up," said Sanderson after the game. "It felt good to be back."

Sanderson finished the game with 130 passing yards, completing five of eight passes, including a touchdown pass. He also had two rushing touchdowns and ran for close to 100 yards.

Will and Wyatt King had several carries in the game for Willits. "With Kailer out of the game and Wyatt [Sanderson] at quarterback-those are our two main runners normally-and so the King brothers helped out and carried the ball quite a bit," said Coach Nat Collicott.

Wyatt King had a season high 30 carries, while brother Will carried 25 times, also a season high.

"We played hard and had the determination to bounce back from the loss against Middletown," said Will.

In the second quarter, facing third and long, the Wolverines were unable to complete the pass, but the Cardinals were called for pass interference, and Willits was granted an automatic first down. The Wolverines eventually scored on a 1-yard run to go up, 14-0.

Willits held Clearlake to just 51 yards rushing and forced the Cardinals to abandon their running game and move the ball in the air instead. They completed 7 of 15 passes for 109 yards.

Clearlake avoided the first half shutout and managed to score a touchdown with only 56 seconds left. It came on a drive that began with an interception thrown by Sanderson in the final two minutes of the second quarter.

While fumbles have haunted the Wolverines in previous games, they were happy to note they did not turn over the ball once against the Cardinals.

The Wolverines were also playing without the injured Reis Renkin, but the tight end, receiver and outside line backer is expected to return this week along with Kailer.

"I'm proud of the team, they played great together," said Kailer Collicott. "I was upset I couldn't compete, but my health is important to me.

"I'm feeling 100 percent now and I am ready to get back to the field."

Despite the constant shuffling of positions due to the numerous injuries that have afflicted the team, the Wolverines remain confident and believe they will be visiting the post-season again this year.

"We are definitely getting healthy at the right time," said Coach Collicott. "Two years ago we were doing amazing at the beginning of the year, then toward the end we had bad injuries that prevented us from going to the playoffs.

"Last year we had the injuries early, but we were able to overcome them and we rolled through pretty good. This year we've had the injuries early," eh said, "and I think we are getting healthy at the right time. Hopefully, we can stay healthy towards the end of the season when it really matters."

Willits (2-1 league, 4-2 overall) has yet to lose a home game, and they hope to keep that streak alive tonight when they host Cloverdale.

The Eagles (1-2, 1-5) beat Kelseyville in a nail-biter last weekend, 41-40. Prior to that game, they were winless on the season.